Paper Dolls Challenge #40

Can you believe it? I've posted three days in a row! I'm on a roll!

This card is for Deena's Paper Dolls Challenge. Her challenge is to make a card using any background stamp. Believe me, there is no shortage of background stamps in my craft room.

Here's what I made. The background stamp is from Stampin' Up. I really like the flourish in the text.

This all started from the black cut-out that was made from the Favor It #4 die. I didn't want to waste it so I stamped a flower from Day Dreamer and heat-embossed it to make it stand out.  The pink pearls added a little bit more color.

Paper Dolls Challenge #38

I'm so behind in our Paper Dolls Challenges, but I'm slowly getting there.

Today's post is for Sara's challenge to make a wedding or anniversary card.

Since I wasn't in need of either kind of card, I decided to make a generic one.

The lighting really makes the embossed sheet music background shiny.  The flowers are from Day Dreamer, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite Papertrey Ink sets.

I used "Adore" for the sentiment. This way, it can be used for either a Wedding or Anniversary card.

Hope you decide to play along. Thanks for visiting.

For My Idol-Laurie

This post is for a very talented forum friend, Laurie Willison. She made it to the Top 10 in this year's Gallery Idols contest. I'm so proud of her. I am a HUGE fan of her work. So many of her cards leave me speechless. I've run out of adjectives to use when leaving comments.  If you haven't already visited her blog, you should check it out. Her blog is Soapbox Creations.

Several of the Paper Dolls members put together a blog hop to honor Laurie and let her know just how awesome we think she is. Each person chose one of Laurie's creations to CASE. I couldn't join in on the hop, but there's still time to play along and add my link. I hope you do the same.

It was so hard to decide which card to CASE. Here's the card I chose. I love the color combination of Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, and White.

I CASEd it almost exactly except I used Royal Velvet instead of the Raspberry Fizz. I was lucky enough to have some extra paper flowers laying around. I plan on making a few more in different colors to make a set of cards.

One more thing. Laurie's birthday was in May and I had planned to make and send her a card. But, life got in the way and it took me forever to find some crafting time. I ended up CASEing a card by Vanessa Menhorn  that I saw in the latest volume of Card Creations magazine. I used Laurie's favorite color combination: Pure Poppy, Kraft, and Black. I never mailed the card because it was so late.

So, Laurie, this card was meant for you.

Paper Dolls Challenge #37-Patterned Paper

As a member of the Paper Dolls blog group, I try really hard to participate in as many of our challenges as I can. Being a bit OCD, I prefer to complete each challenge in order.

When Suzanne challenged us to use patterned paper on everything except the card base, I have to admit that I panicked! I love using patterned paper on my cards, but I don't have Suzanne's talent for mixing and matching them. 

That challenge was issued 6 weeks ago! After many nights of flipping through my dozens of card magazines and visiting my favorite blogs, I was finally able to put something together.

Here it is.

I used Frutti Tutti, Bitty Box Basics, Bitty Dot Basics, and Sugar Plum. The sentiment is from the Think Big Favorites series.  I used a fine marker to add the frame.

Now, I'm ready to tackle the next challenge from Sara:  Make a Wedding or Anniversary card.

Make It Monday - Reverse Masking

I'm so glad I was able to make time to participate in this week's Make It Monday Challenge.

This week, the very talented Erin Lincoln demonstrated the Reverse Masking technique. Click here to watch her video.

I made a single layer card. I die-cut the Mat Stack 5 and used it to mask the middle of my card. I stamped Text Styles II in Smokey Shadow to create the background.

The floral image is from Four of a Kind and the sentiment is from the Think Big Favorites series.

I added some texture with the Canvas impression plate.  Here's a better look.

I had this idea in the back of my mind since Monday. I was surprised by how quickly my card came together.

Now go get crafty. I'd love to see what you can make using this technique.

Boy Birthday Card

I've been wanting to use my Boy Basics: Out of this World set since it arrived. My nephew's birthday was the perfect reason to ink it up. He turned 5 years old this year. 

The earth image is from Masculine Motifs. I used the Sunshine impression plate for the "solar system". I'm grateful for the coordinating rocket die, but I wish PTI had a die for the fire portion too. 

Here's what I did for the inside.

Thanks for looking!

My Card-Display Carousel

No card today, but I wanted to show you the floor card display that my wonderful husband got for me.

I've been looking for a wire desktop card holder for a while now. I've found several on-line, but the cost of shipping costs as much (sometimes more!) than the cost of the item itself. I refuse to pay that much on shipping.

My husband ended up getting me this one instead. 

I put all the cards that I make on it. This way, I can easily select a card that I want to use. I even display my tags on it by clipping it to one of the wires. My kids love it because it's like going to the store and picking out a card for their friends.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pretty Floral Cards

I've got a couple of cards to show you today. I made these while I was at my Scrapbook Retreat. 

I'm a member of Club SEI. I love their monthly kits. They have such amazing collections. I've accumulated a ton of kits. I've been trying to incorporate my kits into my card-making sessions.

The leaf image is from Turning a New Leaf stamp. I love the bling on this card. It really does make me smile.

For this card, I used the Fabulous Florets stamp set from Stampin' Up. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out since the stamps aren't clear, but I'm pleasantly surprised.  I used my angled label die and stamp for the sentiment.

That's it for today!

Small clear tag

I had a few scraps laying around and ended up making a clear tag. I really like how the background pattern turned out. It's from BB: Geometrics. 

Here's where I can write my message on the back. I can turn it into a tag just by punching a hole at the top.

Here it is next to a regular size card so you can get a better idea of the size.

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting!

Summer Fun

Here are a couple of fun summer cards I made using the Sunny Fun stamp set from Stampin' Up.

The images were stamped in black and colored with my Stampin' Up markers. I made the frame using the technique shown by Nichole Heady. You can see it here. 

I used my Spica pens to add some sparkle to the "swimming" card, although it's a little hard to see. I kept things very simple and let the images speak for themselves.

Paper Dolls Challenge #36

Bad, bad blogger! That's what I've been lately. I can't believe my last post was in April! I can give you a whole bunch of reasons why I haven't blogged, but they would just be excuses. But, I'm baaaaack!

I'm trying to catch up with the Paper Dolls Challenges. This card is for Jen's wonderful inspiration challenge. She asked us to create a project using this photo as inspiration.

I pulled the colors and made this simple card. I used the Button Boutique die and stamp to make the coaster buttons. The felt flowers were cut with one of the Beautiful Blooms dies.  This was the first time I ever used the Framed stamp. I still need some practice, but I like the look.

Thanks for visiting. The Papertrey Paper Dolls blog still has several open challenges. Hope you find some time to play along. 

Missed it again!

Yes, I missed the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop again. I started my project late and, by the time I finished it, the link was closed. Here it is anyway.

I needed to make something fast so I opted to make another clear notecard. I used to cross-stitch and making french knots was one of my favorite things to do. So, I used french knots as sprinkles on the cupcake.  I used the cupcake from Cupcake Collections to make the background. (The card isn't scratched up. That's just the reflection from my flash and light sources. It's not easy photographing clear sheets.)

These notecards are great for kids' birthday tags. Just punch a hole at the top and use some twine or ribbon to attach it to a gift bag.

Here's a close-up of the "sprinkles". I stitched them onto felt. I used the Angled Label die for the sentiment.

(Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the back. I'll try to do that and post them later.)

Papertrey Paper Dolls #35

This next project is for Katie's Paper Dolls Challenge. Her challenge this week is to make a project using your scraps. You can cut a piece of cardstock for your base, if necessary, but nothing else.

This was perfect for me because I had these left-over pieces of journaling tags that were part of a kit I had. They've been sitting on my desk for weeks. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away because they were too cute.

No full sheet of cardstock was harmed during the making of this card. :)

I usually make two card bases whenever I have to cut into a full sheet. The blue base was already waiting for me to use it. All the other pieces were scraps that I cut into the necessary sizes. Even the little slip of ribbon on top was a scrap. I rarely throw away ribbon scraps because you can use them in so many different ways. This is one of them.

Here's another card I made using mostly scraps.

This is another piece of the journaling tag. The Scarlet Jewel card base was from my stash of pre-cut bases. I have to admit that the Hawaiian Shores twill ribbon was not from scraps. 

I stamped onto the Tim Holtz clear tags with Staz-On ink. I messed up a little, but that's what makes it "hand made".

I hope you find some time to play along with this week's Paper Dolls Challenge. 

Papertrey Paper Dolls #34

This is my submission to C's Paper Dolls Challenge.  There's still plenty of time to play along and add your link.

Her challenge is to make a simple "gratitude" card using a background stamp.

Making scenes aren't easy for me, but I actually had a lot of fun making this one. I used stamps from both Beautiful Blooms sets for all the images, even the sun! The sentiment is from Mega Mixed Messages.

It's hard to tell, but I inked the top with Spring Rain ink using a cotton ball. The grass was cut using the grass die from My Favorite Things.

Thanks for taking a look!

Make It Monday #8

I didn't think I'd be able to make anything for this week's Make It Monday challenge. One, my mojo's been on vacation. And, two, I don't have a blending tool. I decided to try anyway and I'm glad I did.

Since I don't have a blending tool, I used cotton balls instead. They're cheap, easy to use, and I already had some.

I kept it simple. I've always liked the look of silhouettes. The Larger Than Life stamp set was perfect for what I had in mind. I thought about adding some black pearls in the corner somewhere, but my mojo wouldn't answer so I just left well enough alone. I still need to work on my color choices and positioning, but I'm satisfied with it.

More Clear Notecards

I made a couple of other clear notecards.

I used Friends Til the End for this one.

I love the look of Text Styles. It's so subtle, but adds a hint of sophistication.

Here's the back. Very simple.

Here's a different view. I wanted you to see how the clear card looks against something other than a black backdrop.

I made this card using YOF: Mums.

Pretty much the same layout as the card above.

And....the back.

Another view.

I hope these inspire you to make your own clear notecards.

Clear Note Cards

Like most crafters, I try to recycle anything and everything I can. I used to keep all the clear acetate sheets that my PTI stamps came on. Eventually, it just got too much and I had to toss them into my recycle bin. I recently started saving them again and accumulated quite a stash. I was about to toss a bunch in the recycle bin again, but became inspired by a card a saw in a Paper Crafts Magazine.  The card was by Jessica Witty.

I decided to turn those acetate sheets into notecards. Just simple cards for a quick note.  

Here's one of the notecards I made.   I used Cotton White Staz-On to stamp the In Bloom flower.

Here's a close-up so you can see the In Bloom impression. 

Here's the back. I know it looks like the bottom is smudged and messy, but it's just reflections. It's hard to get a good picture.

I'm so glad to have found a use for these acetate sheets. I love re-using!

Thanks for stopping by!

Clean and Simple's FTL #132

I've been a long time fan of the Clean and Simple blog. They have some really great sketches. I love going there to gain some inspiration, but I've never actually played along. Today, I decided to give it a try.

Click here to see this week's sketch and samples.

I haven't used my Scattered Showers set in a while so I gave it some love today.

I love how easy it was to make something with the Clean and Simple sketch. I'm definitely going to try that again.

Make It Monday #6

I missed last week's Make It Monday challenge due to the flu. This week, I was determined not to miss it again. 

Here's my card. I used Out on a Limb, one of my go-to stamp sets.

I really like the technique Erin demonstrated with the impression plate. This is something I'm going to do again.

Thanks for stopping by.

Papertrey Paper Dolls Blog Hop

Hi, everyone! Welcome to our very first

I'm so excited about this event because it gives everyone (including myself) a chance to get to know the 2011 Papertrey Paper Doll members a little better. You also have a chance to win some amazing prizes! 

Here's a little bit about myself. I'm Michelle (abzzymom on the PTI forum). I live in Northern California with my husband and four girls (ages 13, 10, 7, and 4).  I'm a stay-at-home-mom who just celebrated the 19th anniversary of her 25th birthday last month. :-)

I first heard about Papertrey Ink in July 2009 when I discovered Dawn's blog and fell in love with her Scattered Showers stamp set. I've been a fan ever since. I love the simple timeless images of their stamp sets and their amazing line of dies and products.

My favorite PTI color is Raspberry Fizz. I always find myself pairing Raspberry Fizz with Simply Chartreuse, Hibiscus Burst, Hawaiian Shores, and/or Kraft. The new Royal Velvet is also quickly becoming a favorite. My style is usually clean and simple. I'm working on adding more layers to my projects. 

I created my blog in April 2009 and have been a Papertrey Paper Doll since we first started the group in April 2010. I feel very lucky to be a part of such an amazing group of women. 

The Blog Hop challenge is to make a project using items that begin with the letters "P", "T", and "I".

Here's my creation. My card was inspired by my all-time favorite PTI Design Team member, Dawn.

For "P", I used Pacific Vineyard patterned paper.  The "T" is represented by the Topnotch Twill ribbon. 

For "I", I used the In Bloom impression plate...

 and Inside and Out:  Thank You stamp set.

Hop on over to the Papertrey Paper Dolls blog, join our challenge and add your link for a chance to win. Don't forget to leave a comment at all the Paper Dolls blogs.  Here's a list of the Dolls:

Jen (JenCarter)

Lee Anne (Lee Anne)
Laurie W. (Laurie Beth)  
Deena (honugurl16)
Leish (leish)
Amy (kolling143)  
Suzanne (*suzanne*)
Katie (choc0holic)
Laurie (In My Craft Room)
Cecilia "C" (camvds)
Michelle (abzzymom)
Sara (hiinaz)
Tanna (tfiskers)
Renee (Renee L.)
Kristin (jcmom04)
Christy (christea)

If you're following the list in order, you should head on over to Sara's blog. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have fun and good luck!

Papertrey Paper Dolls Challenge #33-His and Hers Baby Cards

This week is Leish's turn to host a Paper Dolls challenge and it's a fun one!  Create two baby-themed cards using the same layout, but make one for a boy and the other for a girl. I love this challenge because I don't have enough baby cards on hand.

Here are my cards.

When I think "baby" cards, I think of buttons, bows and scallops. So, that's what I put into my cards.  For my baby girl card, I used Sweet Blush and Lavendar Moon cardstock. I threw in some Harvest Moon embellishments for contrast.

The duck from Night, Night Moon is so cute. 

For my baby boy card, I used Spring Rain and Blueberry Sky with some Spring Moss thrown in for some contrast.

Here's a close-up.

Our challenges on the Paper Dolls blog are always open for several months so you have lots of time to play along. Go on over to check out Leish's challenge.

Thanks for stopping by! Come back on March 9 for a chance to win some amazing prizes.